The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced exponential growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (e.g., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (e.g., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs.
Accompanying the scaling down of devices, manufacturers have begun using new and different materials and/or combination of materials to facilitate the scaling down of devices. Scaling down, alone and in combination with new and different materials, has also led to challenges and/or opportunities that may not have been presented by previous generations at larger geometries.